


Season's Greetings

by LadyNightingGaleofMilvania



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Christmas for the boys, Gladio doesn't like elevators, Gladio tries COOKING, Gotta impress his man!, It's ok I don't either, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania/pseuds/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania
Summary: Ignis and Gladio both planned for this Christmas to be spent together, however their duties rarely leave them alone, forcing Gladio to find a way to spend the holidays together.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9
Collections: FFXV Holiday Gift Exchange 2019





	Season's Greetings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xhidaka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xhidaka/gifts).



“What do you mean you’re leaving in a week?” Gladiolus demanded, sitting up suddenly from where he was lounging on Ignis’ couch.

Ignis sighed, sitting next to his boyfriend, “Noctis is expected at a banquet being held by nobles in the neighboring country, and since I am his advisor I am expected to attend with him,” he paused here, taking off his glasses to rub a hand over his face, “Since you have yet to be officially announced as his Shield you have not been invited and I have been denied a plus one. I  _ tried _ , Gladiolus, I really did.”

“When is it?” Gladio asked.

It was frustrating as hell, sure, but normally banquets were short things. Ignis would probably be back in a few weeks after talking about boring matters of state and then they’d be able to spend the holidays together and─

“In two month’s time.”

The air rushed out of Gladio’s lungs, feeling as though he had been covered with the chill of Shiva herself.

“Two months… but─” Gladio started, feeling completely lost as Ignis continued as though he had been silent.

“The banquet…” Ignis paused, another sigh leaving his lips as he placed his glasses back on his face, unable to look Gladio in the eye, “It is to discuss a potential marriage arrangement.”

Gladio stood up quickly, looking at Ignis, who suddenly couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Are you..?” Gladio asked, leaving the unfinished question in the air as his chest constricted, unable to let him breathe as thoughts of Ignis being promised to another flitted through his mind.

“No, thankfully. While there would certainly be political gain in a marriage to the advisor of a future king, that has yet come to pass. This particular arrangement is for Noctis, it seems that Tenebrae is keen on marrying him to Lady Lunafreya to join the houses of Caelum and Fleuret.”

It took everything in him to not sink to his knees, Gladio slowly lowering himself back onto the couch before he collapsed on the floor in relief. It nearly made him overlook one thing… Nearly.

“But that means that you’ll be gone for the holidays,” Gladio realized, “Our plans!”

“They’ve been forced to be put to the side, I’m afraid.” Ignis nodded, finally looking at Gladio with sadness.

With that Ignis kissed the top of Gladio’s head and stood up, walking over to the coat rack and grabbing one.

“I’ll be back later, there are quite a few pieces of paperwork, as well as several meetings I’ll have to attend to ready everything necessary for the journey and stay there,” Ignis paused, a pained look on his face, “I really am sorry, Gladio. I wanted to spend Christmas day with you.”

With that Ignis put on his shoes and left, locking the door behind him while Gladio sat with his head in his hands. They had been planning for months what they wanted to do since they were both going to actually be off this year, Regis telling them at the beginning that he wished to give them this year to themselves, and now Gladio knew why he had said as much: Noctis was going to be married off. He had no doubt that Ignis had been asked beforehand about whether or not he wanted to attend, being the advisor of the prince as he said, and they both knew Noctis would slack off, leaving Ignis to pick up the piece that was left behind so that nothing fell to chaos.

Gladio tried to think of what he could do. There was no way he could be instated as the official Shield of the prince in a week, he was nearly done with his own training, but not so close as to be able to jump months of training that lie ahead. No, there had to be something else… but what? He got up, absentmindedly cleaning─a habit he had picked up from his Ignis, much to the man’s delight─as he thought, finding the monotony of the tasks a perfect moment to let his mind focus on the problem. Halfway through mopping the kitchen, it hit him. If Ignis wouldn’t be in Insomnia for Christmas, then Gladio would bring Christmas to Insomnia. With that thought in mind, he quickly finished mopping and grabbed his keys, coat, and shoes.

The first stop he made was to Cor, knowing that he would be in his office at this time of day like he always was. Gladio needed access to the Crown storage, specifically his family’s portion of it that was given to the Amicitias for whatever was needed. His father often kept the big holiday belongings there since they oftentimes spent holidays in the Citadel. Cor was hunched over his desk, pen scratching away at the swathes of paper that were scattered atop his desk. With a knock Gladio stood in the open doorframe, waiting for permission to enter.

“If you’re looking to be excused from training later today, Recruit, then you’ll need to bring a signed note from one of the official doctors,” Cor said with a sigh as he squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, not bothering to look up, “Glaive training is an important duty that shouldn’t be shirked unless you wish for me to personally assist in your training after hours.”

“I’ve been through that before, and it’s the last thing I wanna do again,” Gladio replied, causing the older man to open one eye to peer at him, “I need to get down into the lower floors and grab some stuff and you have a card.”

Cor continued wrote something on a few sheets of paper before setting the pen down and steepling his fingers to better look at Gladio.

“As you can see I’m quite busy, Gladiolus,” Cor said, pointedly looking at the mess of paperwork spread before him and then back up, “I don’t have the time to simply escort you simply so that you can take a leisurely stroll. Regis and Noctis are leaving in a week’s time and they need Glaive to escort them, as I’m sure you’re quite aware of.”

“It’ll only be minute Cor, I can even take the card and bring it back when I’m done, if you want?” Gladio offered.

Cor stared at him for a minute in silence, Gladio feeling as though those eyes were piercing him straight through. Now that he thought about it, maybe Cor was where Ignis learned that intense stare from. Gladio shifted uncomfortably, unable to return the stare and instead letting his eyes fall to his feet as his face heated under the gaze. Was the Marshal going to reject his request? If so then he could probably figure something out, but it would be easier, not to mention cheaper, if he could just get down there…

“I’ve been at this paperwork for hours and I need to check and make sure the Glaive aren’t taking their duties lightly,” Cor said finally, Gladio hearing the scrape of a chair against the flooring, “I won’t stop you from following me, if that’s what you want.”

Gladio looked up to find Cor straightening the papers, splitting it and setting the two stacks beside each other, before grabbing a set of keys with several cards and oddly shaped items on it and motioning for him to exit the office so that Cor himself could lock up the room. Gladio followed close behind, Cor’s stride somehow faster than Gladio’s, despite the man’s shorter stature. They reached a keypad, Cor rapidly punching numbers without looking, flipping through keycards with one hand before sliding one through as the device beeped several long times and turned green. The sheer amount of codes, numbers, keys, and keycards that the Marshal carried with him was staggering, only to be beaten in quantity by Gladio’s father himself, and that only simply because he was the official Shield of the king and charged with carrying anything the two would need for the entire city for ease of access.

When the doors slid open the two stepped inside, Gladio realizing that he had never been aware of the elevator as they rode it down, remembering that his father would always force him to take the stairs.  _ In an emergency son, _ his father would say each time Gladio would bemoan the trips back and forth after long days of training or lugging large items when needed,  _ it is far easier to stall a box on a few cables than to destroy entire vital sections of stairs. _

As they rode down Gladio couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease, hearing the creaks and groans of the thick cables that held them aloft as the metal box they were in slowly slide them downwards, sending an odd feeling through his body as his nerves stood on end. Cor looked at him from the corner of his eye with an amused snort.

“Have a fear of elevators, Gladiolus?”

Gladio couldn’t answer, instead choosing to slowly worm his way into a corner and pressing himself against it. Maybe he’d ask to take the stairs back up… After a seeming eternity, the doors finally opened, Gladio bolting out and immediately turning red.

“Marshal!” came a woman’s voice, standing from where she had been leaned against the opposing wall and standing at attention until Cor waved a hand.

“Get your things, Gladiolus,” Cor told him, striding forward to talk to the Glaive.

Gladio nodded, jogging to find the Amicitia doorway. It was a simple grey door with the coat of arms below the Caelums’ own. When he finally found it he punched in the code and opened the door, finding himself looking at stacks and boxes that were meticulously labeled in his father’s pen. As he slowly moved each box he found what he was looking for: a large tub marked  _ XMAS _ in large, bold lettering. He dragged it out, putting everything back where he had found it before shutting the door and locking it up with the same code he had used to open the door in the first place. When he again found Cor then man was still having a discussion with the woman, not even acknowledging Gladio until he came closer.

“Thank you Crowe, I’ll send Libertus to relieve you in a few hours for your lunch,” the Marshal finished with a nod, turning to Gladio, “Have you finished?”

“Yeah, uhhh…” Gladio started, holding the large tub before him, “Could we maybe take the stairs? I don’t think I could take the elevator again.”

Cor snorted unexpectedly as he punched in a code, swiping the same card that he used for the elevator, “By all means. I’ll be taking the elevator, however you’ll need no code to exit. Good day, Gladiolus.”

With that, the Marshal stepped through the doors to the elevator and they slid shut behind him, leaving Gladio to trek up the flights of stairs to the ground floor again. By the time he reached it his breaths came in huffs, sweat causing his shirt to cling just enough for the mildest of discomfort. There was no time to catch his breath, settling for getting it back as he drove to his next destination: the book store.

After the tub was nestled snug in the trunk, he slid into the driver’s seat, turning the key in the ignition and then sliding smoothly into traffic, trying to remember the long list of books that Ignis had been eyeing every time the two had stepped foot in their favorite store. As he sat at a red light he could remember the history books  _ Blessings of Bahamut: A Guide to the Astrals and their Messengers _ , along with  _ Rise of a Kingdom: Insomnia a History _ . There were more, but those two stuck out most, being leather-bound with a golden edge to each page and thick enough that each on their own could easily be used as effectively as any weapon in the entire Insomnian armory.

He parked twelve minutes later, a whoop of joy escaping him as Gladio managed to find the frontmost parking spot unclaimed. When he walked in he couldn’t help but take in a deep, slow breath, enjoying the scent of paper mingled with coffee before quickly pacing through the aisles in search of the two history books, grabbing a few more as he went.  _ Fire and Flame _ ─a book on the Infernian,─ _ Blood of Yore _ ─another about the earlier members of the Caelum line,─ _ Duty and Price _ ─this one was for Gladio himself, unable to hold himself back as he realized it was the latest in a series he’d followed for years… Finally, Gladio found the two books he had come for. They weren’t cheap, but he knew that price tags hadn’t ever stopped Ignis from purchasing gifts for Gladio, the man remembering when his boyfriend had handed him the keys to a new car to replace the old clunker that had been bought several years before. When they had been paid for and placed in bags Gladio placed them in the passenger seat, heading to the grocery store to buy a few small Altissian roasting birds, as well as a bag of frozen veggies and a few potatoes.

Finally he was heading home, having spent half the day running around gathering everything. When he had lugged the last items through the door to their shared apartment he let out a sigh of relief. The hardest part was done, Gladio felt, now to put everything in place before Ignis came home. Looking at the clock he decided that he still had a few hours before he needed to start cooking at the earliest, pushing the XMAS tub into the living room and rearranging it to fit the large tree. As it went up he smirked, wondering how his boyfriend would react when he came through the door to a giant Christmas tree and presents, the smell of dinner in the air as Gladio readied the table. He couldn’t help the silly feeling of giddiness at his imagined scenario, covering the tree in tinsel and lights and bulbs─or, as his sister would always call it,  _ spreading the tree with Christmas Cheer _ . Once he placed the star on top and straightened out the skirt he took a step back, admiring the work he had put into it and realizing that it was damn near perfect, if he did say so himself.

Looking back at the clock Gladio realized that he had spent entirely too long decorating, moving speedily to the kitchen to throw the chickens into the oven once he spiced them. Turning back to the fridge, he began to take out pots and pans, debating if Ignis would better appreciate the vegetables roasted or boiled since the potatoes would be baked as well… In the end he opted for boiled, throwing things into the water in the hopes that it would infuse into the vegetables and season it. While he waited, Gladio realized that the presents still needed wrapping, grabbing the wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. He stopped every so often to check on the food, eyes glued to the clock as he rushed to complete everything before Ignis came home from work. By the time he placed the final present beneath the tree he lit several candles, placing them on the dining room table as he arranged the dishes and silverware so that nothing were out of place.

Deciding to go out on a limb, Gladio decided to raid the cabinets, managing to find enough items to make a pie, flouring counters and getting messy as flour and dough wound up on his face, arms, and chest as Ignis walked through the door. Gladio slid the pie in the oven, taking out the meat and placing it on the stove to cool before plating.

“Gladiolus,” Ignis called out, alarm and confusion plain in his voice, “What happened to the living room?”

“Oh,” Gladio said, popping his head around the corner with a smile, “Since you won’t be here for the holidays I thought that maybe we should celebrate them early!”

“Gladio I─” Ignis paused, smelling the air, “Are you cooking?”

Gladio’s grin widened, “I’m making a special dinner, just for the two of us.”

Ignis took off his coat and shoes, stepping into the main portion of the apartment and looking around at everything Gladio had done. Meanwhile, Gladio dipped back into the kitchen, stirring the veggies and moving to plate the chicken finally, scurrying back when another timer went off. When the last of the food was plated he pulled out Ignis’ chair, waiting for the other man to sit and pushing the chair in as Ignis did.

They ate, Gladio listening as Ignis rambled about the meetings he had been in and how Noctis had, yet again, paid minimal attention, which had forced Ignis to take meticulous notes. Noctis had required an extra meeting that Ignis had somehow forgotten to pen into his schedule, which forced Ignis to push off his only break─which had been his lunch─in order to start his schooling on Tenebraen customs in closer detail. From the way one might bow to any given rank whether above or below, or even the proper form to address people regardless of rank or status. Ignis was forced to commit each to memory so that he could, more than likely, write down later when he had a spare moment before bed. Once the food had been eaten and plates cleared, Gladio guided Ignis to the couch, passing each present to him one by one as they became carefully unwrapped. He enjoyed the way Ignis’ face lit up with each book, seeing that pure form of unfiltered joy that so few had the fortune to behold and it filled Gladio with his own sense of joy. When the final gifts had been revealed they cuddled on the couch, tv turned on to some ridiculous reality tv special as they snuggled close.

“Thank you, Gladio,” Ignis murmured into the man’s hair.

When Ignis left the following week there were few tears, but no regrets. After all, Gladio had brought their holidays to them, there was nothing they had missed.


End file.
